Published on 21 May 2010.
by Bill Hogg
Do you put barriers in the way of your customers that prevent them from giving you their money?
My wife and I recently dropped by our local Blockbuster video to rent a movie. There was a special on previously viewed movies that offered 4 movies for $20.00 vs. $6.99 each. They had a large selection and we noticed there were a number of movies that either we hadn’t seen or thought they would be good to add to our home library — so we decided to purchase some.
Posted in All, Experience
Published on 27 April 2010.
by Bill Hogg
A friend shared the following email that she sent to the individual responsible for Customer Service at Danier Leather in Toronto.
I am taking a few moments to email you about the poor customer service I received today at approximately 12.30 pm in your Eaton Centre store.
Posted in All, Employees
Published on 26 April 2010.
by Kevin Stirtz
Several times a year I get a CD from a well-known PR consultant. She is a very aggressive and consistent promoter of her business. She has done a good job making herself well-known in her niche.
But, when I listen to her CD I often resist her message. Not because of its quality. She has a lot of good ideas and advice. What drives me away is the amount of time it takes to introduce her on each CD program.
Posted in All, Customer Perspective
Published on 12 April 2010.
by Ray Miller
This is about understanding why customer focus is strategically important, what it means to be truly customer-focused and how to create or improve customer focus in your organization. This article presents a simple business case for the strategic importance of creating greater customer focus. Many excerpts are taken from the book, That’s Customer Focus! We hope you find in interesting and helpful.
Most of you will probably recognize this soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Posted in All, Customer Perspective
Published on 02 April 2010.
by Jim Logan
Several years ago I worked with a client who self described their business as offering the lowest cost, highest quality product in their market. Their sales were lagging. They had a fair level of interest in their offer, but couldn’t attract the volume of interest they needed to sustain operations. Despite their best efforts, they were no longer confident their business could survive.
That was about four years ago. They exist today and are doing well.
Posted in All, Solution Focus
Published on 01 April 2010.
by Becky Carroll
I was recently reading an annual report for a successful company, and, as always, I looked at the words used about customers. Some reports are only about a company’s internal products, services, and processes. They may even include awards the company has won in the past year, in addition to all the necessary financial information.
A Customer Focus
Posted in All, Loyalty
Published on 31 March 2010.
by Laurie Brown
In a recent article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Joe Guy Collier writes about the changes that AFC Enterprises new CEO, Cheryl Bachelder is making to Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. Bachelder said “We would like for our service, our guest experience to be as sharp as our food.”
This kind of forward thinking is exactly what we all need to focus on in these tough economic times. Instead of letting the economic downturn get her down she said “We’ve had to be more focused, but I actually think that’s been a blessing. We’re going to get the fundamentals of our business moving the right way.”
Posted in All, Solution Focus
Published on 31 March 2010.
by Ray Miller
Every month we scan as much of the Customer Focus, Service Excellence and Customer Experience Research as we can to make sure we have our fingers on the pulse of what customers and business leaders are saying and thinking. Here is a short summary of what current research is revealing. It’s not listed in any order as it is all important!
- 80% of companies believe they deliver a superior Customer Experience; however, only 8% of their customers agree.
Posted in All, Loyalty
Published on 29 March 2010.
by Ray Miller
It’s time to set the record straight. Customer Focus Training is NOT an Expense. It is a strategic investment and here’s the proof.
Posted in All, Loyalty
Published on 11 March 2010.
by Jim Logan
I clearly remember being in the conference room thinking What the hell are we doing? Our CEO just finished a rant on why should be paid well for the products and services we provide. The crescendo moment came when he railed against a customer who was behind in payment — they were withholding payment because the products and services we provided them weren’t working as advertised.
A fact we didn’t deny.
Posted in All, Customer Perspective
Published on 05 March 2010.
by Kevin Stirtz
Three Florida legislators have proposed a bill that would require restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus. While I know there are heated arguments on both sides of this issue, I like the idea.
Posted in All, News
Published on 04 March 2010.
by Ray Miller
Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a hurry. You want to complete your business and the person serving you is preoccupied with something other than serving you. Then when you are served, you might get an insincere apology for the delay followed by the completion of your transaction. If asked to describe this experience you would likely respond “That’s typical” or “It’s nothing more and probably a little less than I expected.”
Posted in All, Solution Focus